TRANSCRIPT:
It's a clear pitch from Labor.
"We want wage rises and tax cuts. Those opposite us want wages to go down and taxes to go up."
To that end, Labor is asking the Fair Work Commission to lift award wages above the rate of inflation.
Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt says the decision impacts around 3 million people.
"It includes some of the lowest paid people in our community, the cleaners, the retail workers, the security guards, the early childhood educators, the kind of people who all of us depend upon."
Around a quarter of Australians are on an award wage - which dictates the minimum amount someone can be paid in a particular industry and job.
Each year, the government suggests how much it should go up.
The Fair Work Commission then reviews that submission, along with submissions from business groups and unions, looks at economic factors, and comes to a decision.
Labor is once again asking for an increase above inflation, which is currently about 2.5 per cent.
The workplace minister says wages can grow without productivity picking up, something that’s at odds with what the Reserve Bank Governor says - and the Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
"You are kidding yourselves if you think you can have an increase that doesn't reflect the fact that we need to get productivity moving in the Australian economy."
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is not backing the proposal, instead preferring to talk about inflation.
"We want to see wages higher but the other side of a family budget is costs, and the fact is that families are paying 30 per cent more for groceries, interest rates have gone up 12 times under this government."
Opposition treasurer Angus Taylor has pulled out props as he emphasises the Coalition's message.
"I'm going to show you all a chart. That blue bar is how much wages have gone up. We don't want that to go down."
But he says it’s more important to reduce cost of living pressures to improve household budgets.
He's announced a coalition plan he says will reduce the regulatory burden for small businesses.
"For small businesses under Labor, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. To restore this, the coalition has outlined our plans to make the instant asset write-off permanent at a higher threshold, to simplify meal deductions and save F-T-B compliance cost, to increase competition and access for small business lending, and to make it easier for small businesses to employ."
The opposition Treasury spokesman is promising a full suite of measures by the election - focusing on driving productivity after a stagnant few years.
Productivity basically measures how much stuff can be put out into the economy compared to the resources like time, money, and materials that are being put in.
It goes up when there's more output with less input.
Angus Taylor says the coalition will establish a new government agency - Investment Australia - to oversee this goal.
"It'll be backed by a legislative framework and mandate to boost our competitiveness and facilitate investment. Its legislated powers will include call in powers to hold regulators and agencies to account for bureaucratic delays on significant projects for our nation."
Meanwhile Liberal leader Peter Dutton has been talking about cutting government jobs, but is still yet to reveal where those jobs will be eliminated from.
DUTTON: "We will look across government, in Canberra, to identify where the additional places are."
JOURNALIST: "Is it fair that out of a public service of 200,000 people you're not gonna say which 41,000 of them might not have a job in six weeks?"
DUTTON: "I just think you want to get back to reality, and reality is here in the suburbs."
